The present invention relates to tracking systems and in particular to a system and method for monitoring the movement of animals within an area to determine at least one physical condition of the animals. The present invention also relates to a system and method for tracking livestock as they are prepared for slaughter.
As is well known, livestock are typically bred at ranches. From the ranches the livestock may proceed to backgrounders for a period of time before being sent to feedlots for final preparation prior to slaughter by packers. The ranches, backgrounders, feedlots and packers are often geographically dispersed. At the feedlot, the livestock are processed in a hospital and processing area and treated with a variety of pharmaceuticals before being delivered to pens in the feedlot. In the feedlot pens, the animal""s rations are varied at specific times to prepare the animals for slaughter. During the animal""s stay in the feedlot, the animals are examined regularly by sight to detect sick animals as well as animals that appear ready for market. This requires individuals to move through the feedlot pens on horseback resulting in the livestock being disrupted and their stress levels increased.
When an animal is determined to be market ready, the animal is shipped to the slaughterhouse. At the slaughterhouse, the quality of the animal is evaluated by the packer based on one of two government standards, namely yield grade or quality grade. Yield grade is a measure of an animal""s red meat to fat and bone ratio. Yield grade 1, the most attractive, has a high red meat to fat and bone ratio while yield grade 5, the least attractive, has a low red meat to fat and bone ratio. Quality grade is a measure of an animal""s intra-muscular fat associated with quality. In the United States, the four quality grades of Prime, Choice, Select, and Standard. In Canada, the four corresponding quality grades are Prime, AAA, AA and A.
Ideally, animals that are shipped to the slaughterhouses meet high quality standards since penalties are imposed on feedlot operators for animals that do not meet quality standards. The tendency therefore, is for feedlot operators to put animals on feed for longer durations even though the animals may be considered market ready. This poses problems in that feed costs and methane or greenhouse gas production are increased.
When an animal at a feedlot is identified as being xe2x80x9csickxe2x80x9d, the animal is physically captured and taken to a hospital where the animal""s temperature is taken to determine if in fact the animal is sick. Physically capturing the animal of course causes significant stress. If the animal is sick, the animal is treated with a range of antibiotics to cure any illnesses regardless of whether the animal requires treatment for all of these illnesses. If the animal is not sick, the animal is returned to the feedlot after having been stressed for no reason. Unfortunately, visual inspection of livestock to determine sickness is subjective making the accuracy of this method questionable. Also, significant lengths of time may elapse before sick animals show visual symptoms. As will be appreciated, this prior art method of monitoring livestock in a feedlot suffers may disadvantages.
Systems to monitor animals remotely to collect data concerning the condition of the animals are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,085 to Hurnik et al. discloses an apparatus for remote sensing of livestock using a thermographic imaging system. The thermographic imaging system remotely monitors the location, weight and temperature of livestock by taking thermographic images of the animals. The thermographic images are digitized and converted into number arrays. The number arrays are interpreted by software executed by a computer to provide animal weight information in a decipherable form.
Canadian Patent No. 1,296,068 to Friesen discloses a physiological monitoring system to measure physiological functions such as the pulse rate or temperature of an animal. The system includes a remote telemetry system carried by the animal including sensors to sense conditions of the animal and store data representing the sensed conditions. The stored data is then transmitted to a master telemetry system for processing.
In the article entitled xe2x80x9cFeeding Behavior of Feedlot Cattlexe2x80x9d authored by Sowell et al., a system to measure the feeding behavior of feedlot cattle by monitoring cattle at a feedbunk is described. The system includes passive radio frequency (RF) tags carried by the cattle. A read panel in close proximity to the feedbunk communicated with the RF tags carried by the cattle at the feedbunk to allow the presence and location of the cattle at the feedbunk to be recorded. The recorded information is processed to determine the average time untreated and treated cattle spend at the feedbunk.
Although the above-identified references discloses systems to monitor animals remotely, improved systems to provide information concerning the physical condition of animals within an area are desired.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and system for monitoring animals within an area to determine at least one physical condition of the animals. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and system for tracking livestock as they are prepared for slaughter.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for tracking the movement of animals as said animals are moved from location to location during processing comprising the steps of:
tagging each animal under observation; and
tracking the location of each tagged animal and the duration each tagged animal spends at each location as it is moved to generate data representing each tagged animal""s movement history.
Preferably, the generated data represents each tagged animal""s movement history generally over its lifespan. It is also preferred that the locations include ranches, backgrounders, feedlots and packers.
In one embodiment, the generated data is used to detect tagged animals that have been in physical proximity with a tagged animal diagnosed with a transmittable disease. In another embodiment, the general data is used to detect locations that may be the cause of a trend exhibited by specific tagged animals.
Preferably, in at least one of the locations, the movement of animals within an area is monitored. During the monitoring, positional data of each animal under observation is collected. The positional data is processed to generate data representing the movement patterns of animals. The movement pattern data is then analzyed to determine at least one physical condition of the animals.
It is also preferred that the positional data is collected at intervals. During the analyzing step, the movement pattern data is compared with reference movement pattern data stored in a database representing typical movement patterns of animals exhibiting the at least one physical condition. The movement pattern data is compared with the reference movement pattern data to detect animals suspected of suffering a health problem.
According to still yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for tracking the movement of tagged animals as said animals are moved from location to location during processing comprising:
at each location, a reader to read the tag on each of said animals thereat; and
a processor in communication with said reader, said processor storing a record of each tagged animal""s duration at said location.
The present invention provides advantages in that by tracking the livestock as they are prepared for slaughter data representing the livestock""s movement history are generated. The data can be used to determine animals, which were in physical proximity of a diagnosed diseased animal thereby limiting the focus of animal testing. The data can also be used to determine locations, which may be the cause of trends exhibited by specific animals.